Nampa Optimist Beyond Football

Nampa Optimist Club
Club #32214
Project: Nampa Optimist - Beyond Football
Time Period: 2009-2010
Club
Nampa Optimist Club #32214
District
Pacific NW District - 32
Nampa Optimist
Beyond Football
Category Entered
Community Service
Project Contact
Noe Rodriguez
1015 Creekside Ave
Nampa, Id 83686
(208)465-4814
2
Section 1: Project Story
Optimist International
Community Projects Awards Entry
Project Story 2009-2010
Title of Project: Nampa Optimist Football - Beyond Football
Category: Community Service
Single Club Entry: X
Sponsoring Optimist Club: Nampa Optimist Club
Submitting Club Number: 32214
Contact Person: Noe Rodriguez
Phone Number: (208)465-4815
Address: 1015 Creekside Ave
City: Nampa
E-mail Address: najsrodriguez@msn.com
Work Number: (208)871-2377
State/Province: Idaho
Number of Club Members involved: 88
Number of youth served/attended: 950
Date project completed
Estimated project hours
From: 1 Dec 2009
Optimist: 400
Number of Members needed to coordinate project? 6+
How many times has the Club run this project? 4
3
To: 30 Sep 2010
Other: 1,200+
Postal Code: 83686
Project Description
Nampa Idaho takes great pride in the many ways we provide for our youth. Along with
our city Parks and Recreation our club provides a wonderful 25 acre, 7 football field, 2 baseball
diamond facility for our kids.
As a club, we are proud of all of the little football players in our program. But, football is
an expensive sport and because of this, many of our players were from more affluent families.
We’ve given Scholarships to many of the kids who couldn’t afford the program.
With the vast resources from our football program, we created ‘Beyond Football’ to take
a huge step further. We solve future community problems by encouraging disadvantaged kids to
take the steps to become better, successful citizens. Not just football, but scholastic skills and
citizenship skills as well.
Specific Goals and Why
Our Club Chose This Project
It became apparent that we needed to focus our energy and resources. We’ve always
made scholarships available for those who asked and met our application requirements. Football
provides an opportunity to ignite passion and excitement in young athletes and their families.
We wanted to leverage this passion, along with our people and other resources to encourage
success in other areas of our student-athlete’s lives.
Publicity/Promotion Plan
Publicity and promotion is already in place with our football program. Over the years,
we’ve had considerable front page coverage of our program in both of our local newspapers
(Idaho Press Tribune and Idaho Statesman) along with some radio and television (KTVB)
coverage. During our football season, each game
day, we have about 6,000 people visit our fields.
We have also purchased some full page
ads in the Idaho Press Tribune to encourage
football sign-ups.
Some of our events included the Boise
State University (BSU) Football team. Seeing
orange and blue everywhere leaves no doubt, with
BSU’s recent winning streak the media would
come out in droves. Head Coach Chris Petersen of
the BSU Football team felt they already get plenty
4
of publicity. Instead he wanted this to be just about the kids. So, all the events including the BSU
football team were all held with an expectation of privacy.
Specific Duties Required
Entering the 2006 season it became apparent that we needed to focus our energy and
resources. Prior to this time, we provided scholarships to those who asked and who met our
application requirements. Football provides an opportunity to ignite passion and excitement in
young athletes and their families. We want to leverage this passion to encourage success in other
areas of our student-athlete’s lives.
We met with administrators of the Nampa School District to identify high risk schools.
These schools have below average income, high rates of delinquency and high dropout rates.
With the help of the district administration, we targeted three Nampa Elementary schools. These
three schools also had a historically low level of participation with our football program.
The first step was to meet with school administrators to help us identify children for our
program, children who come are socially and economically challenged, children with poor
grades, attendance and disciplinary issues. Once these students were identified (3 to 5 students
per school), mentors (coaches within our program) began meeting with these students on a
monthly basis with the intent of understanding their situations and attempting to generate an
interest in football.
At the same time we organized school assemblies at the target schools. These assemblies
brought Boise State University football players and coaches into the schools to talk with the kids
about the importance of school and education. These assemblies and the ‘one on one sessions’
afterward were tremendously successful.
The next step was to bring these kids into our program. We set a goal of 10%
scholarships to total participation. Through a targeted campaign including flyers, site visits by
coaches and administrators along with tremendous support from teachers and school officials, we
exceeded our goal in the first year by 2%. In 2010 we provided 135 scholarships out of 750 total
players and cheerleaders.
This season we will expand the BSU assemblies into a 4th school. We will also bring
coaches into the three area middle schools (grades 6 through 8), to talk about the dangers of
drugs and gangs in addition to the importance of good grades and attendance.
Boise State football is very popular in our area and these kids respect the coaches and
athletes. These are tremendous opportunities for us to have a very real impact in our community.
5
Benefit to Youth
‘Beyond Football’ strives to help kids enjoy football in a safe and structured environment.
Football teaches values, kids will use the rest of their lives. It is our responsibility to emphasize
these values to all of our kids and it is our goal to help every player and cheerleader experience
success on the field, in the classroom and in life.
Benefit to the Community
Currently entering our 10th season of operation,
Nampa Optimist Football (NOF) has found tremendous
success bringing the sport of football to the youth of the
Nampa area. Started in 2000 with 11 teams and 247
young athletes, the program now numbers more than 850
football players from 7 to 12 years of age, nearly 100
cheerleaders and more than 200 adult volunteers with 41
teams.
Going into 2010, we expect more than 950 players
and cheerleaders. The tremendous popularity of the sport
of football has allowed us the opportunity to expand our outreach ‘Beyond Football’.
Impact on the Club
- Planned and Unexpected Results
The Nampa Optimist Club is very proud of our football program. We enjoy over 6,000
people in attendance at our fields every Saturday. In world news, we hear about people
misbehaving at children’s sporting events. Visitor to Nampa Optimist Park are amazed at how
organized our program runs and how civilized it all seems. We only allow positive cheering for
our children.
Complications and Resolutions
Complications often arise during football. The solutions to these problems include some
simple (not to be confused with easy) guidelines.
=>
=>
=>
!=>
Insistence on good behavior and respect for all involved.
Build a system with procedures to handle situations.
Each rule must be applied consistently with wisdom and equality.
NFL scouts are not on the sidelines looking for recruits among our 8 year olds!!
Each year, we start our sign-ups for our program in April. We sign-up lots of young
football players and cheerleaders to our program. Football is expensive. Most of our money
6
comes from sign-ups, so we can’t scholarship everybody, but we try to scholarship all we can. Of
course we always welcome donations to help scholarship more kids.
Recommendations for Clubs Considering This Project
This project is designed as an add-on for an existing program. Make sure you are running
a quality program and meeting all of your obligations first. This program can get expensive, so
set goals and guidelines you can meet.
Run Project Again?
With What Changes?
Most definitely! This project takes a great project (football) and makes it better.
These existing programs are just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ for Beyond Football. Future
facets of the program will include mentoring of young athletes by high school players and college
scholarships for former Optimist Football players.
7
Section 2: Reference Section
Beyond Football Committee
Club Support
Club President: Noe Rodriguez
Club Secretary: Michael Gray
Club Treasurer: Bryan Crookham
Football Committee Support
Football Exec: Noe Rodriguez
Football Commish: Mark Arnold
Financial Coord: Bryan Crookham
Touchdown Cards: Dean Shafer
Tackle League Dir: Mike Hoops
Flag League Dir: Jody Goodman
Fields Coord: Randy Doramus
Publicity Dir: Mike Hoops
WebMaster: Michael Gray
WebMaster FB: Justin Foster
Head Coach Support
Kevin Brocke, Luis Corona, Randy Doramus,
Mike Rice, Beau Bonds, Bob Larison, Glenn
Wolf, Mike Miller, Derrick Nalley, Trevor
Radford, Scott Duncan, Brian Knight, Cory
Overlin, Steve Kincheloe, Mark Sisenor, Todd
Stewart, Shea Morin, Marcus Schlegel, Joe
Roseberry, Jamie Mertz, Andy Monnier, Jim
Beebe, Tom Stillwaugh, Jeff Treinen, James
Buster, Justin Foster, Marcus Fisher, Bob
Copeland, Chris Bradley, Ed Galdabini, Kim
Hilliard, Noe Rodriguez, Curt Gashler
195 Assistant Coaches
42 Team Moms
27 Cheer Advisors + Assistants
8
Budget Details
The budget for Beyond Football is intertwined with the Football program.
Income:
Sign Ups
950 football players & Cheer
Beyond Football Donations
Touchdown Cards
Concession Stand
Total Incomes
$55,000.00
6,000.00
35,000.00
2,500.00
---------.---$98,500.00
Expenses:
Advertising
Beyond Football Scholarships
Football Equipment (helmets, etc)
Jr Referees Uniforms
Field Expenses (vehicles, Refs, cones etc)
Concessions
Insurance
Total Expenses
$2,900.00
13,700.00
10,000.00
11,000.00
28,000.00
7,500.00
3,000.00
-------.--$76,100.00
Net (first half of season, carry to next fiscal)
$24,400.00
9
Section 3: Publication Exposure
Press coverage
Idaho Press Tribune
Main Section - Page 5 (half page)
10
Idaho Press Tribune
Sports Page 5 (entire page)
11
Internet Website coverage
Michael Gray has spent hours working on our web site at http://www.nampaoptimist.org.
This web site not only provides information about our club, but also doubles as historical
documentation of what our club has done over the years. It currently prints out to about 190
pages, and growing.
We’ve recently added another web site at http://www.nampaoptimistfootball.org. Justin
Foster has developed and taken care of this site, which specifically involves our football
program.
Nampa Optimist Club
Nampa Opt Football
http://www.nampaoptimist.org/
http://www.nampaoptimistfootball.org/
Idaho Press Tribune
Idaho Statesman
Boise Optimist Club
Boise Optimist FB
Pacific NW District
Optimist Int
City of Nampa
Boise Family Mag
Boise Weekly
Idaho Football
MTG EnterPrizes
Nampa Chamber
KTVB TV
Nampa Soccer
Capital Youth Soccer
United Way
Great Pumpkin Race
Boise White Pages
Big List
Nampa Parks
Kid Friendly Parks
http://www.idahopress.com/
(links - community service clubs)
http://www.idahostatesman.com/
(archives and links)
http://www.boiseoptimist.org/Links.htm
http://www.optimistyouthfootball.com
http://www.pnwoptimist.org
http://www.optimist.org/
http://ci.nampa.id.us/pages/civicgroups.php
http://www.boisefamily.com/guides/sports03.shtml
http://search.boiseweekly.com/biz/nampa-optimist-football/
http://www.idahofitness.com/football1.htm
http://www.nampa.net/
http://www.nampa.com/business_directory.asp
http://blogs.ktvb.com/whereslarry/2007/09/nampa-optimist-football.html
http://www.nampayouthsoccer.com/Field_Maps/Nampa/nampa.html
http://www.cysaidaho.org/Directions%20to%20fields.htm
http://www.volunteersolutions.org/uwtv/org/dir-n-1.html
http://www.greatpumpkin.org/sponsors/
http://www.boisenet.com/A-Pages/an.htm
http://www.travel-idaho.com/PageNOP.html
http://www.nampaparksandrecreation.org
http://www.kidsplayparks.com/
spot_kid_friendly_parks_Optimist_Park_Nampa_ID_53233.aspx
Ghetto Search
http://ghetosearch.com/search/nampa_optimist_club
Abbotsford Optimist http://www.abbotsfordoptimists.org/Favourite_Links.htm
Nampa Valley LL
http://www.nampavalleylittleleague.com
Note: Web sites can change without notice. All of these sites were live at the printing of this book.
12
BSU Coaches meeting with Grade School kids
Grade school kids meeting with the BSU Football Team &
Coaches
13
Orange and Blue (football field), a favorite of our community!
Boise State University Football field
14
BSU Football players encourage the kids to do better in school
More encouragement from BSU coaches
15
We have a tremendous opportunity to impact our community. Leveraging the tremendous
success of BSU football and the interest generated at the youth level, we can help youngsters see
the value of education, dedication and hard work, then guide these youngsters to a path that leads
to future success and community involvement.
This is a passion for Nampa Optimist Football. While we love the sport of football, we
are not only about the sport. This is ‘Beyond Football.’
Creating opportunities,
generating enthusiasm
for all facets of life
and helping kids
recognize their own potential!
16